Grain-door



. (No Model.) V l J. WATSON.

GRAIN DOOR.

No. 591,940. r Patented Oct. 19,1897.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

'JAMES' WATSON, or RANTOUL, ILLINOIS.

GRAlN-DOOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 591,940, dated October 19, 1897.

Application led April 13, 1897. Serial No. 631,975. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES WATSON, a citizenof the United States, residing at Rantoul, in the county of Champaign and State of Illinois, have invented a Iiew and useful Grain- Door, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain improvements in grain-doors such as are employed in freight-cars used for transporting grain inv bulk; and the object of the invention is to provide a device of this character of a simple and inexpensive construction which shall be provided with a gate arranged at its lower part to permit of discharging the grain in a convenient manner, the door being at the same time of a strong and durable nature and being capable of being opened wide when desired.

The invention consists in a grain-door formed of sheet metal, or other suitable material, and provided at its lower part with a discharge-opening controlled by a gate, a hingebar arranged vertically at the side of the cardocr and loops or eyes on one end of the door, said loops or eyes being in engagement with said hinge-bar in such a manner as to permit the door to be raised or swung pivotally, the eyes or loops sliding along the hinge-bar when the door is raised and turning on said bar when the door is swung pivotally. p

The invention also consists in certain novel features of the construction, combination and arrangement of the various parts of the improved grain-door, whereby certain important advantages are attained and the device is Inade simpler, cheaper and otherwise better adapted and more convenient for use, all as will be hereinafter fully set forth.

The novel features of the invention will be carefully defined in the claims.

In order that my improvements may be the better understood, I have shown in the accompanying drawings a grain-door constructed in accordance with my invention, in which-- Figure l is a perspective'view showing a portion of the side of a freight-car provided with a grain-door constructed according to my invention, and Fig. 2 is a view showing the inside face of the improved grain-door, the gate for closing thedischarge-opening at the lower portion of the door being shown in its open position. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken transversely through the grain-door inthe plane indicated by the line do in Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken through the improved door in the plane indicated by the line b b in Fig. 2.

In the views, 1 indicates the body portion of an ordinary freight-car having in its side a door-opening 2, wherein is adapted to be arranged the improved grain-door construct-ed according to my invention. At one side of the kdoor-opening 2, in the side of the carbody, is arranged a vertical hinge-'bar 3, with which are engaged a series of loops or eyes 4E, formed on the ends of hinge-straps 5, secured to the outer surface of the improved door, as clearly shown in Fig. l.

As shown in the drawings, the improved door has its body portion 6 formed of a single sheet of metal, which may be, for example, of sheet-steel, and as shown in the drawings there are three of the hinge-straps 5, each of a length to extend from one side to the other of the body portion 6 of the door,

so as to form braces extending across the door v -and serving to strengthen the saine, said straps being secured in place to the outer face thereof by means of a series of rivets or bolts 7. As shown, there are four of the rivets or bolts 7 passed through each strap 5, there being one of such devices at each end of each strap, and two bolts or rivets at the central portion of each strap, the central bolts or rivets 7 being arranged, respectively, on opposite sides of the discharge-opening 8, which is formed in the lower central part of the body portion 6 of the door, so as to stand, when the door is closed, as shown in Fig. l, adjacent to the iioor of the car. In this way it will be seen that the rivets on opposite sides of the discharge-opening 8 in the improved door are arranged in vertical rows, and these Vvertical rows of rivets are employed, as will be seen from Fig. 2, for holding in place, on the inner side of the improved grain-door, guide-stripsQ, also formed of sheet-steel or similar material, having their edge portions folded or bent over at the point where the rivets pass through them, and said folded or bent portion being arranged between the body portions of the guide-strips and the'surface of the door, as indicated at l0 in Fig. 4, so as to space the body portions of said strips IOO away from the surface of the door and permit the movement between these parts of a sliding gate 11, designed to close the discharge-opening S in the door.

The gate 11 is formed at its upper end with where the gate is arranged, said bent-over portion is formed into a flange 14, extending between the guide-strips 9 and adapted to engage the flange 12, on the upper edge of the gate to form a stop to limit the upward movement of said gate and prevent the same from being detached from the grain-door.

The opposite side edges of the improved door are bent over to form flanges 15, extending at right angles to the body portion of the door, on the inner surface thereof, and the opposite sides of the door-opening 2 in the car may be, if desired, provided with guides, as shown at 1G in Fig. 4, so as to hold the improved grain-door against-pivotal movement when in its lowered position. In this way the door will be held against pivotal movement when in its lowered position, but will be permitted to be moved vertically, so as to raise it above the level of the horizontal beams 17, extending inside the car and forming part of the frame thereof, whereupon the door may be swung pivotally and folded against the inner surface o-f the car-wall above said beam 17 and resting thereon, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4.

From the above description it will be seen Athat the improved grain-door is of an extremely simple and inexpensive nature, and is especially well adapted for use since it permits the contents of the car to be conveniently discharged, and is of an extremely strong and durable construction, so that the contents of the car will be securely held and the liability of the door being bursted by the pressure of the grain within will be obviated, and it will also be apparent that the invention is capable of considerable 'modication without material departure from its principles and spirit, and for this reason I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the precise form and arrangement of the several parts herein set forth.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. The combination of vertical guides situated at the sides of a car-door opening, and extending from the car-iioor for a distance equal, substantially, to the width of a door, a hinge-rod secured at one side of the dooropening, and extending parallel to one of the vertical guides adjacent thereto, and a door having eyes or loops mounted for pivotal and sliding movement on the hinge-rod, said door arranged to have both edges thereof engaged with said vertical guides when lowered, to be held securely thereby without other fastening means and adapted, when raised clear of the guides, to swing pivotally into an open position, substantially as described.

2. The combination of vertical guides situated at the opposite sides of a car-door opening and extendingfrom the floor fora distance equal substantially to the width of a door, a hinge-rod secured at one side of the door-opening and extending parallel to one of the vertical guides adjacent thereto, a continuous sheet-metal door tted in said guides to be held thereby when lowered and adapted when raised to be entirely free from engagement with the guides, and longitudinal reinforcement-bars extending continuously across,and united rigidly to, the door, said bars provided at one end only with loops or eyes which are loosely iitted on the vertical hinge -rod to slidably and pivotally connect said door thereto, for the purposes described, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of vertical guides situated at both sides of a door-opening and extending from a car-floor a distance equal toV the width of a door, a vertical hinge-rod adjacent to, and parallel with,one of said guides, and a continuous, sheet-metal door fitted in said guides to be held thereby when lowered, said door being provided with reinforcementbars which extend logitudinally thereof and are united rigidly thereto, and one end of said bars bent to form loops or eyes that engage with the hinge-rod to attach said door slidably and pivotally to said rod, as and for the purposes described.

4. A grain-car door, consisting of a continuous sheet of metal provided with a central gate-opening, the longitudinal reinforcementbars applied against the outside of said continuous metallic door, and vertical guidestrips applied against the inside face of the door, on opposite sides of the gate-opening therein, and united with said longitudinal bars'to the door by common fastening means, in combination with vertical guides situated at the respective edges of the door, a hingerod which receives hinge-loops on vthe longitudinal bars, and a wicket-gate fitted to the vertical guide-strips and carried by the door in its adjustments, substantially as and for the purposes described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aftixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES WATSON.

IIO

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